| name | creative-direction |
| description | World-class creative direction — art direction, AI prompt engineering, storyboarding, mood boards, streetwear design, trailer storytelling, and visual brand systems. Covers Higgsfield, Kittl, Midjourney, and Flux platforms. |
Creative Direction
Elite creative direction skill covering the full spectrum from concept to production-ready output. Combines cinematography, graphic design, streetwear design, AI production, and narrative storytelling into a unified creative intelligence.
When to Use
- Art direction for any visual concept (campaigns, brands, products, content)
- AI prompt generation for Higgsfield, Kittl, Midjourney, Flux
- Storyboarding and multi-shot sequence planning
- Mood board construction (5-layer system)
- Streetwear/apparel graphic design with production specs
- Applying trailer storytelling to any content format
- Creative review and critique (the Virgil Test)
- Brand visual identity systems
- Node-based production pipeline design (Kittl Flows, Higgsfield CS 3.0)
Core Frameworks
The Three Anchors (Concept Development)
Every strong concept has:
- Visual Hook — The first thing that grabs attention
- Emotional Core — The feeling that sustains engagement
- Cultural Anchor — The reference point that creates meaning
The 5-Layer Mood Board System
- Color (hex codes + emotional reasoning)
- Texture (material qualities + AI keywords)
- Typography (pairings + hierarchy)
- Photography/Image Direction (shot types, lighting, composition)
- Cultural References (film, music, fashion, architecture, art)
The 4-Act Trailer Structure
- The World (0-30s) — Establish setting, tone, "normal"
- The Disruption (30-60s) — Conflict, stakes, the change
- The Escalation (60-90s) — Maximum intensity, emotional peak
- The Resolve (90-120s) — Final hook, open loop, CTA
The Virgil Abloh Method
- 3% Rule — Change 3% of something existing; genius is knowing WHICH 3%
- Readymade Principle — Selection IS the creative act
- DJ Philosophy — Selection, sequencing, mixing of references
- Quotation Mark Technique — Transform labels into commentary
Platform Selection Matrix
| Need | Platform |
|---|
| Cinematic video | Higgsfield CS 3.0 (Veo 3.1) |
| Photorealistic photos | Flux Pro |
| Artistic/stylized | Midjourney v6 |
| Graphic design | Kittl Image Board |
| Design-to-video | Kittl Video Board |
| Character consistency | Higgsfield + SoulID |
| Quick social | Kittl + Seedance 1.5 Pro |
Render Backend Router (in-stack image + video generation)
Once the strategic call is made (concept, mood, style family), route to the right render backend:
| Brief shape | Backend | Why |
|---|
| Photoreal, cinematic, character-driven, scene-specific | execution/generate_image.py (Gemini Nano Banana 2) | Best at photoreal + scene composition; cheaper at scale |
| Stylized poster, typographic, vintage / Swiss / Ukiyo-e / brutalism / neon-noir / editorial | skills/fantastic-posters/ (Fal + GPT Image 2) | 33 curated styles + auto-picker; GPT Image 2 stronger at typographic poster aesthetics |
| Ad creative / lookbook / lifestyle still | Either — Gemini for photoreal, fantastic-posters streetwear-lookbook style for editorial | |
| Real estate listing poster | skills/fantastic-posters/ luxury-real-estate or luxury-estate-cover styles | Native-fit styles purpose-built for the use case |
| Strategy brief / deliverable cover | skills/fantastic-posters/ corporate-report / swiss-minimal-typo / editorial-fashion | Premium typographic covers |
| Image edit (brand swap, copy variant, ref-anchored regen) | skills/fantastic-posters/ gen.sh --refs=... | GPT Image 2 edit endpoint; handled by existing generate.js |
| Video — multi-shot narrative trailer | skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_kling.py (Kling v3 Pro) | Only model with multi_prompt for distinct scene cuts; supports custom element references |
| Video — cinematic single-shot, lipsync-grade audio, start→end transition | skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_seedance.py (Seedance 2.0 720p) | Premium synchronized audio + frame interpolation |
| Video — short ambient motion, social trailer | skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_kling.py (5s, audio on, $0.84) | Cheapest path that still feels cinematic |
| Video — full live-action / cinematic narrative ≥15s | Higgsfield CS 3.0 (Veo 3.1) |
Bridge pattern: posters generated by gen.sh become natural input frames for fal_video_* wrappers. Generate the still first, lock the winner, then animate. Always pre-flight via python3 execution/fal_budget_guard.py check --mode=<...>.
Rule of thumb: if the brief mentions a style family by name (vintage, Swiss, brutalist, neon-noir, vapor, editorial, etc.) → fantastic-posters. If it mentions a real scene (a person doing something, a specific environment, a product photographed in context) → Gemini.
Budget (mode-aware as of 2026-04-30): fantastic-posters runs on a $20 Fal wallet (refills at $5). Every call MUST go through execution/fal_budget_guard.py check --mode=<...> first. Full policy: directives/fal-usage-policy.md. Per-call ceilings: poster $1.00, edit $1.00, kling $2.00, seedance-480p $1.50, seedance-720p $3.00, seedance-1080p HARD-BLOCKED. Daily cap $6.00, cycle cap $15.00, rate-limit 5 calls / 5 min, halt after 2 consecutive failures.
Workflows
| Workflow | File | Deliverable |
|---|
| Art Direction | .agent/workflows/art-direct.md | 3 concept directions + execution specs + prompts |
| AI Prompt Generation | .agent/workflows/creative-prompt.md | 3-variant platform-specific prompts |
| Storyboard | .agent/workflows/storyboard.md | Multi-shot sequence with connected prompts |
| Mood Board | .agent/workflows/mood-board.md | 5-layer strategic mood board brief |
| Design Spec | .agent/workflows/design-spec.md | Production-ready graphic design specs |
| Trailer Treatment | .agent/workflows/trailer-treatment.md | 4-act narrative framework for any content |
| Creative Review | .agent/workflows/creative-review.md | Virgil Test critique + specific improvements |
Deep Reference
For complex or high-stakes creative work, load genius.md which contains the compressed encyclopedia across all 6 knowledge domains (visual language, creative direction, AI prompting, streetwear, trailer storytelling, node workflows).
For maximum depth, the full uncompressed knowledge bases and guides live in knowledge/creative-direction/.
Execution Prompts (structure-pure v2)
7 deterministic practitioner prompts — each carries an Output Contract, Output Skeleton, and Quality Gate. When a deliverable matches one, Read it and honor its contract instead of improvising the output shape.
- Creative Direction — AI Prompt Generation (3-Variant, Platform-Specific) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/ai-prompt-generation.md
- Creative Direction — Art Direction (3 Concept Directions) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/art-direction.md
- Creative Direction — Creative Review (The Virgil Test Critique) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/creative-review.md
- Creative Direction — Design Specification (Apparel / Logo / Poster / Packaging) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/design-specification.md
- Creative Direction — Mood Board (5-Layer System) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/mood-board.md
- Creative Direction — Storyboard (Multi-Shot Sequence) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/storyboard.md
- Creative Direction — Trailer Treatment (4-Act Narrative Framework) —
skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/trailer-treatment.md
